hoity-toity
1 of 2noun
hoi·ty-toi·ty ˌhȯi-tē-ˈtȯi-tē 
ˌhī-tē-ˈtī-tē
: thoughtless giddy behavior
hoity-toity
2 of 2adjective
1
: thoughtlessly silly or frivolous : flighty
2
: marked by an air of assumed importance : highfalutin
a hoity-toity college professor
The restaurant was too hoity-toity for my tastes.
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When Should You Use hoity-toity?
Hoity-toity is believed to have been created as a rhyme based on the dialectal English word hoit, meaning "to play the fool." Hoity-toity can mean "foolish" (e.g., "… as though it were very hoity-toity of me not to know that royal personage." — W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor’s Edge), but it is most often used to mean "pretentious."
Word History
Etymology
Noun
rhyming compound from English dialect hoit to play the fool
First Known Use
Noun
1668, in the meaning defined above
Adjective
1812, in the meaning defined at sense 1
hoity-toity 1 of 2
adjective
as in arrogant
informal having or showing the insulting attitude of people who think that they are better, smarter, or more important than other people a bunch of hoity-toity snobs Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- arrogant
- smug
- vain
- important
- proud
- uppity
- pretentious
- affected
- highfalutin
- bumptious
- conceited
- vainglorious
- pompous
- prideful
- ostentatious
- snobby
- snobbish
- egotistic
- high-and-mighty
- presumptuous
- grandiose
- hifalutin
- imperious
- la-di-da
- egoistic
- self-important
- complacent
- bragging
- egotistical
- la-de-da
- supercilious
- lah-di-dah
- haughty
- grandiloquent
- overweening
- cavalier
- self-satisfied
- snippy
- disdainful
- egoistical
- high-minded
- sententious
- self-complacent
- aggressive
- self-centered
- self-obsessed
- self-conceited
- high-handed
- rude
- high-toned
- superior
- lah-dee-dah
- self-assertive
- high-hat
- self-pleased
- stuck-up
- lah-de-dah
- high-flown
- self-asserting
- self-aggrandizing
- lordly
- high-sounding
- airy
- boastful
- bold
- self-glorifying
- confident
- self-dramatizing
- impudent
- braggart
- cocky
- glitzy
- brassy
- self-promoting
- insolent
- showy
- cheeky
- sure
- gaudy
- flamboyant
- assertive
- garish
- flashy
- audacious
- self-assured
- flaunting
- self-confident
- splashy
- forward
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- humble
- lowly
- unassuming
- meek
- demure
- homely
- unassertive
- timid
- quiet
- bashful
- passive
- diffident
- mousy
- retiring
- down-to-earth
- reserved
- shy
- modest
- unpretentious
- mousey
- overmodest
hoity-toity
2 of 2noun
as in tomfoolery
Synonyms & Similar Words
- tomfoolery
- craziness
- witlessness
- rigmarole
- monkey business
- monkeyshine(s)
- idiocy
- shenanigan(s)
- rigamarole
- absurdness
- hot air
- madness
- greek
- inanity
- asininity
- folderol
- absurdity
- claptrap
- jazz
- falderal
- nonsense
- twaddle
- imbecility
- kookiness
- baloney
- hogwash
- balderdash
- blither
- lunacy
- piffle
- trumpery
- gas
- guff
- nuts
- foolery
- poppycock
- malarkey
- hokum
- flapdoodle
- inaneness
- blah-blah
- fatuity
- insanity
- hocus-pocus
- bilge
- hooey
- blather
- blatherskite
- boloney
- garbage
- humbuggery
- bunkum
- crapola
- tommyrot
- malarky
- crock
- fudge
- tosh
- fiddlesticks
- bunk
- blah
- drool
- silliness
- blarney
- punk
- horsefeathers
- codswallop
- rubbish
- stupidity
- fiddle-faddle
- foolishness
- double-talk
- drivel
- nerts
- fiddle
- humbug
- hoodoo
- hokeypokey
- bosh
- taradiddle
- buncombe
- muck
- rot
- tarradiddle
- folly
- bull
- beans
- trash
- applesauce
- flannel
- moonshine
- senselessness
- slush
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- sensibleness
- reasonableness
- sense
- rationality
- reasonability
- horse sense
- levelheadedness
- judgment
- wisdom
- judgement
- common sense
- discernment